Though he felt rather sorry for the poor fellow Ammit had taken away, seeing the two youngsters he knew standing safe and sound before him lifted an enormous weight from Steven's heart.
"Aether, Paimon, thank goodness you're all right."
"Ah... was I talking just now? You must have misheard." Steven did not want the youngsters to think he was some creepy old guy who talked to himself. He hurriedly turned toward the mirror, as though desperate to confirm that his experience had been nothing more than an absurd flight of fancy.
But when he turned his eyes toward it, his "self" in the mirror had no intention of playing along.
[Liar... weren't you... talking to me just now?]
That "Steven" watched him silently, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into an unsettling arc. His entire smile was unnaturally stiff, as though it had been forcibly stretched across his face, completely at odds with the rest of his expression.
[Heh heh, a pathetic wretch who can't even recognize himself, trying to conceal heresy with such a flimsy lie.]
As the figure in the mirror watched fear spread over Steven's face at his words, his smile grew broader and his features more twisted. Like an evil spirit, he let out a howl.
The "Steven" in the mirror spread his hands like an eagle's talons and, with an angry roar, shot out of the mirror like an arrow loosed from a bow.
He moved as fast as lightning. The instant he emerged, he lunged at Steven like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey.
The sudden attack scared Steven out of his wits. He instinctively recoiled, only to trip over his own feet in his panic and fall flat on his back.
"Aaaah!!!!"
The abrupt turn of events struck like a bolt